Poetry Magazines - The best collection of poetry magazines online - Simon Armitage

Mark sleeps on my left arm, ‘Metro’ crossword half started
Half-arsed, I’m knackered, the rainbow through coach glass
Shattered, the ash-tray and the stinking feet. Road keeps on 
                                                                                        stretching
Sandstone ‘n’ grey the gentle heat of the day strategically applied.
Someone asks, how many more miles? Hands twitching.
Someone else smiles, you’d think these wrecks had never seen the  
                                                                                                 sea.


The coach arrives, pulls alongside the Aquarium and we are all 
                                                                                            ejected
Given our rendezvous time. Some elect to trudge toward 
                                                                                     backstreets
And shake off the care assistants for, if you’re spotted drinking or 
                                                                                         drugging,
You can’t get back on the bus. Some make for the Amusements, all
                                                                             ignore the beach,
Except me.


I remove my shoes and walk. The sound of the waves, the salt on 
                                                                                       the breeze
At my back, gaudiness and tack, no cash but the gothic ruin, neon 
                                                                                        castrated,
West Pier reminds me of the sinister I hold dear. Blonde girl
                                                                reclining, legs and breasts
Below me on the pebbles. The sun, the sea, the fresh air, pensioners
                                                                               on deck-chairs.
I light a joint with a hacking cough and blink, sweating, at my bare 
                                                                                                feet.